


you've become my favorite sin

by avantgarden



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Humor, Slow Burn, Student Council
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-08 07:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15925610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avantgarden/pseuds/avantgarden
Summary: Jeongyeon hates Nayeon and Nayeon hates Jeongyeon. It’s simple, until it’s not.//Nayeon crosses a line and Jeongyeon will stop at nothing to get the girl off the student council.





	1. Chapter 1

“As this year’s elected student council, I expect that all of you spent the summer preparing for the upcoming school year. Since tomorrow’s the first day of school, I expect all of you to come to class in the proper council attire. Now, we’re going to go over the expectations for this year.” 

Jeongyeon scoffed, leaning back against her chair and trying not to look as grumpy as she felt from how early the student council meeting was running. She wondered what awful sin she might have committed in her past life to be stuck in the stuffy student council room a whole day before the school year started, listening to Im Nayeon’s annoying drone on and on about their “shared responsibilities” as the newly elected council. 

The council itself wasn’t the issue, to be fair. It was the vice president Jeongyeon had a problem with. They never got along in the first place, always exchanging quips and insults whenever they came in contact. Even back in middle school, they often found themselves at blows. She already had a feeling when Nayeon was elected as student council vice president at the end of last year, that she’d be a huge pain in the ass. 

School hadn’t even started up again and it was already proving to be true. She scanned the rest of the room, tuning out Nayeon’s speech and noting everyone who she’d have to interact with for the rest of the year.

First, her eyes drifted over to Jihyo, the president. She looked tired, rifling through papers in front of her while Nayeon went on and on. Jeongyeon wondered if Jihyo let Nayeon introduce the council meeting either because arguing with the girl was unnecessary stress or because she had more important things to deal with. The treasurer, Chaeyoung, was asleep at her seat at the table, head very obviously buried between her arms. Jeongyeon could swear she heard a light snore coming from her.

The girl next to her, Mina, was completely the opposite. She looked wide awake, hands quickly typing down everything that Nayeon was saying. Being the secretary, Jeongyeon thought, must be an awful job to have with Nayeon’s motor-mouth. The two girls next to Mina looked just as tired as Jeongyeon felt and Chaeyoung looked. Sana, the Public Relations chair, and Dahyun, the Activities and Events chair, were both drifting in and out of sleep, occasionally knocking their heads together in a way that made Jeongyeon bite back a laugh.

To either side of Jeongyeon were Momo and Tzuyu, the only two people in this stuffy room that she would consider her friends. Due to past issues with student groups feeling misrepresented by the student council during previous years, the school had implemented the addition of three representatives into the student council to give equal votes and points of view to decisions made. Momo was the arts department representative, Jeongyeon was the athletics department representative, and Tzuyu was the advanced programs department representative. 

“-yeon. Yoo Jeongyeon!” Jeongyeon snapped out of her reverie, only to be met by Nayeon’s angry eyes.

“What?” She snapped.

“Did you hear anything I said?” Nayeon scolded, her eyes getting narrower by the second.

“Sure did.” She bit back. “You only repeated the same sentiment in a thousand different ways.”

Tzuyu nudges her with her shoulder, her quiet way of telling her not to push the vice-president’s buttons.

“Cut the sass, Yoo Jeongyeon.” Nayeon said.

“Sure, only if you cut the bullshit, Im Nayeon.” Jeongyeon shot back.

“Okay, both of you, relax.” Jihyo finally set aside her papers and stood.

Despite the anger clearly outlined on Nayeon’s face, the girl directed her anger away from Jeongyeon and stepped aside.

Jihyo took the space in front of the table and cleared her throat. “Thank you for leading the meeting up until now, but we’re going to discuss some new policies Principal Park wanted me to go over with all of you.”

  


➁➋➁➋

  


After the meeting, Jeongyeon found herself accosted by a furious Nayeon.

“You better start treating me with a little respect, Jeongyeon.” Nayeon warned. “I’ll make your life miserable. Don’t think I won’t.”

Jeongyeon pushed past the shorter girl. “Oh no, I’m so scared.”

Before she could go far, Nayeon grabbed at Jeongyeon’s shirt and pulled her down to her eye level. The anger was clearly written all over the girl’s perfectly done up face, and if Jeongyeon wasn’t so irritated by the girl, she’d even find it a little attractive. But, the girl was a total nightmare, and Jeongyeon would much rather spend a year in solitary confinement than a single minute with Im Nayeon.

Nayeon brought her face close to Jeongyeon, her eyes narrowing at the taller athlete’s indifferent attitude.

“You should be.” She growled, before letting go of her shirt and pushing her backwards.

“Yeah, sure.” Jeongyeon said. “Oh, and next time you put your hands on me, I’ll kick your ass straight to another school district. So don’t try that stunt again.”

Nayeon’s smug grin ticks off Jeongyeon. “If you could, you would’ve done it. You would never.”

“You do realize I’m the basketball captain and a kicker on the football team, right? Don’t try to resort to anything physical, because it won’t end pretty for you.” Jeongyeon said. “You’re lucky I’m against animal cruelty.”

The girl bristled in her uniform. She puffed her chest out and stormed out the room, but not before throwing another heated glare at Jeongyeon. It didn’t sit right. It looked like bad news.

  


➁➋➁➋

  


Turns out Nayeon had more influence than Jeongyeon thought, which became increasingly more evident the next day. The first day of school was always Jeongyeon's favorite time of year, the time of year where she gets to see her team again in its entirety. Being the captain this year meant that she was even more excited to figure out positions and strategies. The excitement was short lived when she walked into the gymnasium to see her team looking annoyed and her coach looking apologetic. 

"Ah, Jeongyeon. Just who we were looking for." He said. "There's a bit of a problem going on... The student council just sent me a bulletin saying that we don't have access to the gym today. Only Thursday and Friday."

Jeongyeon's mouth fell open. "What? They can't do that! It's our first practice of the year! We get the gym every weekday afternoon!"

“I’m hoping you can resolve this, being the athletics department rep and all.” The coach sighed. “But until we get this figured out, no practice today.”

“But it’s our first practice of the school year!” Jeongyeon complained.

The coach nodded. “Which is why it needs to be fixed now, so that this doesn’t become the norm.”

Jeongyeon stood in shock while her other teammates filed out of the gym, crestfallen at the news. Red was the only thing Jeongyeon could see as she stomped her way over to the student council room. As she had correctly assumed, Nayeon was there, rifling through files and writing down notes for the next meeting. The room was void of any of the other council members, which Jeongyeon was fine with, since she wasn’t in the mood to have an audience.

“Really, Im Nayeon?” Jeongyeon said.

Nayeon looked up from her papers in surprise, before the corners of her lips turned up in self-satisfaction. She put down her papers and stood up to face the angry athlete.

“Are you crazy?” Jeongyeon said, stepping closer to Nayeon and poking a finger at her chest. “Are you really messing with my entire team just to prove a point?”

“Yes.” Nayeon said. “And also, because upon further reflection, it really doesn’t make sense that only the basketball teams are allowed use of the gymnasium after school.”

“Um, it makes total sense? The gym is a basketball court.” Jeongyeon had to stop herself from grabbing the girl and tossing her into a basket. “You’re nuts. This is a total violation of power, and as the rep of the athletics department, I’m not going to let you get away with this. I’m going to call for an emergency meeting. You can hate me all you want, but flexing your imaginary "power" like that is crossing a line.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes.

“Relax, Hulk. Jihyo’s obviously rolling it back. For now. But the sentiment still stands… don’t mess with me.” Nayeon warned with a condescending smirk.

Jeongyeon glared at the shorter girl. “You really think you have any power? It’s pretty clear to me that Jihyo is the one who calls the actual shots. You’re just a nuisance.”

Instead of getting angry, a sly smile began spreading on Nayeon’s face. The unexpected reaction made Jeongyeon take a step back in apprehension.

“For now.” Nayeon said, gathering her papers and turning to leave the room.

She stopped, looking over her shoulder at Jeongyeon. “P.S. Wanna know some top secret information? Jihyo’s stepping down next week. Guess that means I’ll be the next president of the council. So you might want to work on that tone.”

  


➁➋➁➋

  


“I’ve called you both here today to make a persuasive argument.” Jeongyeon said, slamming her hands down on desk of the empty classroom. “Nayeon is a fucking power hungry monster and we need to get rid of her.”

“Um, I think that’s a little much.” Momo said at the same time Tzuyu said, “I’m in.”

“Tzuyu, what?” Momo’s eyes widened at the usually reasonable girl agreeing with Jeongyeon.

“I don’t like her.” Tzuyu shrugged. “Never have, never will.”

“Nayeon told me that Jihyo is stepping down next week. That means that unless we do something, Nayeon is going to be the next president.” Jeongyeon explained. “And you know she’s been dying to mess with the arts department ever since she didn’t get the lead role in the last Spring musical.”

“Oh.” Momo paused. “Okay, well, that changes things.”

“So what are we going to do? I have some ideas, but I’m assuming we’ll have to make sure nothing can be traced back to us -”

“Tzuyu, we are not going to hurt the girl.” Momo shuddered, the terrifyingly new side of her quiet friend she was getting to meet making her uncomfortable.

“I’m just saying, I’m the head of the chemistry club, teacher’s assistant for forensics lab, and the captain of the debate team.” Tzuyu shrugged. “If you get what I’m trying to say.”

“I like where your head’s at, Tzuyu, but let’s try to stick to something less murder-y.” Jeongyeon said. 

“Boring.” Tzuyu drawled. “But okay, the rules clearly state that when someone in the student council vacates their position, there’s a three day window where a member of the student body can formally announce their candidacy, which would force a vote. And if there’s a new vote, only non-current student council members can run. In the case of the student council president, that means that if someone formally runs once Jihyo steps down…”

“They’ll force Nayeon to step down as vice president in order to run for president, and if she gets beat out, she’ll be off the student council altogether!” Jeongyeon exclaimed. “Tzuyu, you’re a genius.”

“I know. I literally am.” Tzuyu said.

“Okay, hate to be the voice of reason here, but there’s an issue. Who’s going to run?” Momo said. “You miss like half the student council meetings because of your sports schedule, which is fine since you’re a rep but that would disqualify you for the president position, and I’m leading the dance troupe show this year so there’s no way I’m going to dedicate time on being president. Tzuyu?”

“I can’t. Nobody would vote for me.”

“That’s true. Tzuyu’s made at least one third of the student body cry.” Jeongyeon groaned. “Who’s well liked and wouldn’t totally mess things up if they won student council presidency?” 

At that moment, a group of students passed by the classroom, talking jovially among themselves.

“Did you go to the back to school rally this afternoon?”

“Uh, duh! It was amazing. Like I’d miss anything organized by Dahyun sunbae.”

“She’s so awesome. I’m so glad she’s on the student council this year.”

“Yeah, she’s honestly the best.”

The voices faded as the students’ voices drifted further away, but the three girls inside the classroom quickly turned their heads to look at each other. The same thought was on all of their minds.

“Dahyun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love a high school alt universe. I also love me some foe yay. Mix those together with Twice and I guess this is what happens.
> 
> 2yeon is the main ship, but you can look forward to other ships! I just haven't decided them yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Getting Dahyun alone was turning out to be a lot harder than what any of the three girls could have anticipated. Being that Dahyun was the activities and events chair of the student council, on top of being the president of 7 different after school clubs, the girl was always rushing from one commitment to another. Any time they thought they could grab her between her commitments, her attention was already taken by some other student. She was evidently immensely popular, which Jeongyeon never noticed because… well, because it was Dahyun.

It all made sense in hindsight. Of course people knew and liked Dahyun. She was friendly and approachable. She was kind-hearted and sweet. She was easy for Jeongyeon not to pay mind to, because her popularity was nothing like the reverence the athletes got, the fearful respect people like Nayeon or Tzuyu got, or the drooling appreciation the cheerleaders like Mina got.

Dahyun had an everyman’s girl type of popularity, the one where she didn’t seem like some far away, fantasy based idea of a person. People thought of her as a friend and that’s why she was well known and well liked. She knew people’s names, remembered little things about everyone, and probably had a one on one conversation with nearly everyone in school. 

She would be the perfect opponent to Nayeon’s bid for presidency.

The issue was that Dahyun never showed any interest in leading the student council during last year’s election, turning down a nomination immediately after it was offered. Adding in the fact that her affability seemed to have reached even the cold heart of Nayeon, since Momo was certain that she saw them eat lunch together a few times, the three girls were hard pressed to believe that convincing Dahyun to run against a friend would be anything other than close to impossible.

It took a lot of schedule stalking to organize, but the three girls finally managed to corner Dahyun in a classroom. She was smiling her usual friendly smile, although her body was positively vibrating from how late they were probably making her for one of her many club meetings.

“Jihyo’s stepping down from the student council next week. Nobody really knows about it yet.” Jeongyeon went straight to the meat and bones. “That means Nayeon’s going to be the next student council president.”

Wide-eyed and confused, Dahyun stood stock still as she took in everything Jeongyeon was saying. “Uh, okay?”

“We want you to run against her.” Tzuyu said. “You’re the only person who’s both qualified enough and popular enough to stand a chance.”

“Woah, woah, guys. I’m perfectly happy being the activities chair.” Dahyun stepped backwards with her hands up. “And I’m pretty sure being president is Nayeon’s, like, dream, and she would kill to get it.”

“Dahyunnie.” Momo said. “Pleaaaase. Come on.”

Dahyun took another step back. “I’m not prepared to die in twenty different ways, especially not for a position that I don’t want.” 

Jeongyeon stepped forward and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “At least tell us you’ll think about it?”

“I really don’t think I want to run, but okay, I’ll think about it.” Dahyun said, relenting. “Just please don’t get your hopes up.”  


➁➋➁➋

  
If there was one saving grace in attending high school with Im Nayeon, Jeongyeon would say it was how she managed to get all the way to senior year without sharing a single class with the girl. Despite the unavoidable run-ins in the hallways or during games, Jeongyeon had it easy when it came to not having to deal with Nayeon. Of course, it seemed like all that good luck ran out by her fourth year, because she found herself not only being on the student council with her, but also sharing three classes with the she-devil herself.

To make matters worse, those three classes were first period English, fourth period lunch, and last period study. That meant Jeongyeon’s day started with Nayeon, ended with Nayeon, and had Nayeon right dab in the center. Nayeon, Nayeon, Nayeon. Just thinking about the girl’s condescending smirk and calculating eyes made Jeongyeon’s blood boil.

Jeongyeon strolled into her last period a little late because of her talk with Dahyun. Being that it was a study hall period filled with mostly seniors and a few juniors, the class was mostly a free for all. Some kids used the time to finish homework or study like they were meant to, but a majority of the students just chatted or napped. She usually sat with her teammate and good friend, Yeri, but before she could walk over to her, she heard Nayeon call out to her.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, late as always.” She heard Nayeon say, voice crisp and clear over the many chattering students. “Unsurprising.”

“Im Nayeon, bitchy as always.” Jeongyeon snapped back. “Even more unsurprising.”

“Why don’t you go fall on something sharp and pointy?” Nayeon said with a smile as fake as Jeongyeon found her personality to be.

Jeongyeon shot her a sugary sweet smile of her own. “Are you offering your front teeth?”

“Original.” Nayeon spat out. “Did you think up that response during all that free time you had being sidelined for most of last year’s football games?”

“I wouldn’t know, I was distracted at every game by your shiny ass forehead.” A smirk made its way to Jeongyeon face when Nayeon quickly adjusted her bangs at the quip. “I thought cheerleaders were supposed to be pretty?”

“I thought athletes were supposed to win games?” Nayeon sneered.

Jeongyeon could feel a vein threatening to pop out in her head, but before she could respond, she heard someone call for her.

“Jeongyeon, come sit!” Jeongyeon looked up to see Yeri frowning in their direction.

“Don’t forget about the student council meeting today. On time.” Nayeon said as Jeongyeon began walking away. “I know it’s hard for you but try to be responsible for once.”

Yeri laughed when she saw the grimace on Jeongyeon’s face. “You’ve got to stop engaging with her.”

“Trust me, I try.” Jeongyeon sat down next to her friend. “She always has something stupid to say to me.”

“Oh please, half of the time, you start the arguments. I swear the two of you love it.” Yeri said.

“There’s not a single thing I love about that girl.” Jeongyeon said. “And nothing even remotely loveable about her.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Yeri responded, nudging Jeongyeon. “Everyone has good qualities.”

Jeongyeon looked over at Nayeon, who looked up from her book at the same time to throw Jeongyeon another fake smile. “Yeah, but not her.”  


➁➋➁➋

  
It was beginning to look like one of Jeongyeon’s favorite new activities during the student council meetings was to contest every decision or vote that Nayeon wanted to push. It didn’t really matter if Jeongyeon felt strongly about the subject. Devil’s advocate wouldn’t make much sense, seeing that Jeongyeon was sure that Nayeon was a demon incarnate herself. If anything, by going against Nayeon, she was practically being a saint.

“- and because of that, we should pass a ruling to stop funding the clubs with less than 20 members. It makes no sense to keep giving those clubs money, especially when the bigger clubs require more funding.” Nayeon said. “It’s only fair.”

Jeongyeon groaned from her seat. “That’s such bullshit and you know it.” 

She looked around the room to see half the council looking indifferent and the other half looking uncomfortable.

“Seriously? You all agree with this crap?” Jeongyeon asked.

Sana shrugged. “I mean it seems mean but the Japanese club really does need more funding in order to have that end of year Japan trip, and if we could do less fundraising for that money, that would be great, so… I’m kind of with her on this one.”

“I just wanted to drop in and say I’d love to argue Nayeon with you but I’m kinda really looking forward to my club’s Japan trip.” Momo whispered to Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon dug her elbow into Momo’s side to shut her up.

“The only requirements for a club are a five member minimum and a teacher representative.” Dahyun suddenly said, nervously looking up from her notebook. “Everyone gets the basic funds when they’re established. They’re not supposed to be for anything other than basic club maintenance and membership recruitment. Bigger clubs have more fundraising opportunities and membership fees, so... I don’t think it would be very fair for smaller clubs to not even get the bare minimum. It’s really hard to get a club off the ground without that funding.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes. “If a club is really in demand, it can meet the 20 person minimum.” 

“Some clubs take a while to establish themselves, and some clubs might never get over 20 people but they’re important for the people who are a part of it. Getting rid of funding would guarantee those clubs would eventually die out.” Dahyun protested. “That’s - we can’t - that’s not what’s good for the student body.”

“Good riddance.” Nayeon said. “Relax Dahyun. All seven clubs you’re president of have over 20 members. That means all of them will get extra funding if we pass this.”

“Yeah, but…” Dahyun frowned. “But the smaller clubs…”

“Who cares about the smaller clubs!” Nayeon snapped. “We’ve been on this topic too long. Let’s move on, shall we?”

“I just think we should hold off on making any decisions like this, at least until the end of club sign-up days.” Dahyun said.

“No offense, Dahyun, but that’s not really for you to decide.” Nayeon said, waving a hand dismissively at the younger girl. 

Dahyun opened her mouth to retort before deciding against it, holding her tongue instead. She stared down at her lap.

“She was just suggesting something.” Momo said. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”

Nayeon scoffed. “Yes but that was a stupid suggestion. Again, no offense, Dahyun.” 

“None taken.” Dahyun murmured, still looking down.

“Enough.” Jihyo said, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion as the room quieted down. “I agree with Dahyun. We will wait until the last club recruitment week ends. Clubs will be getting new members through the freshmen so considering anything with funding would be inaccurate.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes for what Jeongyeon thought was the hundredth time this week. “Fine. Recruitment week ends the week after next, right? Mina?”

Mina nodded in confirmation without looking up from the notes she was typing.

“Cool.” Nayeon smirked. “Fine. Two weeks.”

The rest of the meeting went by in a blur, with Jeongyeon’s attention focused on either glaring at Nayeon or taking sidelong glances at Dahyun. Although the heat of the previous argument had cooled, Dahyun still looked jittery, her eyes cast down and her hands anxiously playing with the ends of her chair.

Jeongyeon felt bad for her. Not many people could really take a verbal beat down from Nayeon, even though Nayeon was being relatively tame compared to how she talked to Jeongyeon. The dismissive attitude and eager negligence of other people’s opinions were only two of many reasons that Jeongyeon knew that she had to do whatever it took to make sure Nayeon didn’t get the student council presidency. Just imagining the older girl with the highest power a student could have made a cold chill jolt down Jeongyeon’s back.

After the meeting concluded, Jeongyeon quickly made her way to where Dahyun was packing up her bag. The other student council members started clearing out, including Tzuyu because of a group project meeting and Momo, who made sure to give Jeongyeon a thumbs up before stepping out of the student council room. 

As soon as they had the room to themselves, Jeongyeon asked, “Have you thought about what we talked about earlier?”

Dahyun was deep in thought, fiddling with the straps of her bag and rocking back and forth on her feet. There seemed to be a battle going on in the inside of her mind and Jeongyeon could only hope that the right side won out. Although Dahyun was friendly and competent, Jeongyeon also knew that her distaste for conflict could end up throwing a wrench into the plans. 

Finally, Dahyun looked up, her face stoic, with set determination hardening her features despite the nervousness shining through her eyes.

“Okay. I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and leaving comments ❤
> 
> Nayeon and Jeongyeon are going to be a bit of a slow burn so please be patient, they hate each other's guts right now ha!


	3. Chapter 3

Before Jeongyeon could respond to Dahyun’s statement, the shorter girl was already halfway out the door. She was glancing down at her watch and muttering under her breath about the time.

“Wait, Dahyun -”

“Sorry, Jeongyeon, but I’m so late for bird watching club.” Dahyun said. “Gotta go, we can talk later.”

“Wait up! I’m just curious.” Jeongyeon said, walking quickly to match Dahyun’s hurried pace. “You were dead set on not running, and you like barely talk back to Nayeon on her insane policy ideas if you can help it. Why was this club thing such a big deal for you?”

Dahyun shrugged half-heartedly, her pace never slowing.

“I just thought it wasn’t fair. I’m events and activities chair, after all. I’m part of a lot of clubs, even ones I’m not president of, and I see how important it is for a lot of people. The smaller ones, especially. Sometimes, that’s all those students have.” Dahyun suddenly stopped walking, causing Jeongyeon to overstep and almost bump into a locker. “Sometimes, the only thing helping some kids get through the school day is getting to run into a classroom after classes with those few other people in this huge school who like doing or talking about the same things they do. There’s something innately comforting in feeling like you belong somewhere.”

“Wow, super deep.” Jeongyeon said, putting a sagely expression on her face.

Dahyun laughed. “You’re an ass. You’d get it if you saw it.”

She looked thoughtfully out into the hallway before turning back towards Jeongyeon. “Look, I promise to run for student council president, but I really want you understand my motivations before I commit to it.”

“Right.” Jeongyeon nodded. “That makes sense. What can I do?”

“What time does your practice end tomorrow?” Dahyun asked.

“Tomorrow’s practice is only an hour, so by 4 I’ll be free. I volunteer at the athletics department for after school program kids at 5:30, though.” Jeongyeon replied.

“Come to room 117 after your practice ends. I want you to come with me to one of my favorite clubs. It won’t take long. It’s smaller and nobody really talks about it, but… it exists. And I think it’d be a shame if it didn’t.” Dahyun said. “Don’t bring anyone else and please come with an open mind.”

With that, Dahyun resumed her quick pace down the hall while rummaging through her bag, pulling out a pair of binoculars and yelling about bird calls to a group of kids that were gathered by the front door holding binoculars of their own.  


  
➁➋➁➋  


  
Room 117 was frankly the hardest classroom Jeongyeon ever had to locate. It was weirdly not in between rooms 116 and 118 and she already tried walking to the second floor wing in case she heard it wrong. Jeongyeon narrowed her eyes. Was this some room of requirement bullshit? Did she have to walk down this hallway three times thinking about Dahyun for the door to show up?

“Jeong?” 

Jeongyeon whipped her head back and saw Dahyun standing on the other side of the hallway with an entertained grin. She was standing in front of a door with the letters “Room 117” very clearly marked on the plaque by the frame.

“Oh.” Jeongyeon said.

“The odd numbered rooms are on this side. That’s how every room in this school is structured. You… you know this, right?” Dahyun said, her voice a mix of amusement and serious concern. “Like, this hasn’t changed.”

“I know, I just… I had a moment.” Jeongyeon muttered.

“Too many basketballs to the head?” Dahyun joked.

Jeongyeon chuckled, punching Dahyun lightly on the arm. “I’m beginning to feel like Nayeon’s insults are rubbing off on you.”

“Ouch, just kidding! Anyways, this is it.” Dahyun pushed open the door, gesturing for Jeongyeon to go in.

The room was relatively big, with desks moved around to make one small circle in the center of the room. There were five kids sitting in chairs engaging in small talk. At the sound of the door shutting, the room went quiet. All five pairs of eyes were suddenly on the two girls.

“Hey! This is Jeongyeon, basketball team captain and the only girl on the football team, as I’m sure you’ve all heard of by now. She’s not officially joining our club or anything but she’s here because I asked her to come by and check it out. I trust her not to, you know…” Dahyun shrugs. “Be a dick or something.”

The awkward silence that fills the room for a few seconds is enough to make Jeongyeon want to turn right around and walk out, but finally she sees welcoming smiles settle on the members’ faces.

“Hi, sorry, we’re being a little rude. We’re not used to new members or guests, but welcome. My name’s Amber, club president.” The girl with short, blonde hair said, jumping up from her seat. “Welcome to the Queer Student Alliance!”  


  
➁➋➁➋  


  
“I didn’t know our school had a QSA.” Jeongyeon said, taking a seat next to Dahyun in the circle.

“Not many people do.” Dahyun shrugged. “It’s pretty new and it’s harder to get people to join clubs like this one when it’s smaller.”

“We’re open to both queer and straight students, but nobody has really been biting.” Amber said. “We haven’t really put our name out there as a club yet because it’s been difficult trying to get spaces in the club fairs.”

“Students don’t want to join because they’re either straight kids who don’t want to be seen as ‘one of us’ or closeted queer kids who don’t want to be seen as ‘one of us’. So it’s been just us for the last year since we were founded.” A boy with light brown hair in a bucket hat said. “The general club fund keeps us afloat for now, but just barely. So our goal this year is to get at least four new members. That’ll bring us up to a nice ten members.”

The other students in the room nod their heads.

“Although that number might need to be doubled for the club to stay around.” Dahyun muttered under her breath for only Jeongyeon to hear.

“My name’s Jimin by the way.” The boy said, flashing Jeongyeon a grin. “I’m the club’s VP.”

“I’m Seulgi.” The girl next to him said, shooting up to offer Jeongyeon a handshake. “Transferred here last year and found my people. The gays.”

Jeongyeon laughed along with the other members of the club.

A perky, adorable girl on the other side of Jimin waved her hand in the air to catch the room’s attention. “I’m Jiwoo! Sophomore.” 

“And I’m Victoria.” Jeongyeon looked up at the tall girl standing by the chalkboard and her eyes widened in recognition.

“Oh! You’re in the cheerleading squad!” Jeongyeon exclaimed.

“That’s me!” Victoria said. “I come to these meetings every week because of Amber here. I’m her older sister so it’s kind of my responsibility to be the Most. Supportive. Person. In. Amber’s. Life.”

Amber groaned. “A little too supportive. I really don’t need my straight older sister cozying up with my queer gang.”

“Cough cough, if I recall correctly, ‘the queer student alliance is open to students of all ethnicities and sexualities’ and also, I distinctly remember you telling me how much you loved that I joined the club, and -”

“Okay, okay. Please stop.” Amber grumbled, cheeks red with embarrassment.

The members of the club began bickering amongst each other while Jeongyeon and Dahyun quietly watched the students interacting. They seemed at ease, easily falling into fits of laughter with each other. These were students that Jeongyeon was sure she had never noticed in the halls. She wondered if they were this cheerful and open during normal school hours.

“I feel comfortable around them, and it’s different comfortable from how I feel with my other clubs. I love all my clubs but this one is special to me.” Dahyun said to her as they continued watching the club members interact. “They’re like a family that I’m always happy to come home to, and I know there has to be other small clubs like this at school. You know what I mean?”

Jeongyeon took in the comfortable, happy faces of the students chattering all around her, and even though she barely knew these students, she could feel that energy there. “Yeah, I think I kind of do.”

“And honestly, it’s not just about the clubs. I think during yesterday’s meeting, I began to realize what kind of power being the president of the student council could mean.” Dahyun said. “Make good changes, you know? That’s what this is all about, right?”

“Yeah, completely.” Jeongyeon agreed, ignoring the small part of her conscience that wondered briefly if this was about positive change or about beating Nayeon at her own game.  


  
➁➋➁➋  


  
Being an afterschool program kid was so ingrained in Jeongyeon’s elementary school experience that it was only natural for her to find herself volunteering to help out. Since her parents worked long hours for most of her life, when she was younger the only option they had was to sign her up for the elementary school’s after school program. That meant that from the end of school to seven in the afternoon, she would stay back with other after school program kids and do homework, activities, and sports.

She always loved the afterschool program in her childhood. It kept her hyperactive self occupied and made her a lot of friends with similar parental schedules, friends she probably wouldn’t have made otherwise. It was during her after school’s study hour that she met Tzuyu, the quiet foreigner who was always buried deep in her books. It was also the after school’s sports program that began her long love affair with basketball, when a high school volunteer taught her the ropes of her now beloved sport.

Her parents or one of her sisters would pick her up exactly at seven and she’d run into their arms, talking excitedly about her afternoon with her friends and the cool high school volunteers. Growing up and entering middle school meant that there was no more afterschool program but Jeongyeon always missed it. That’s why when high school afforded the opportunity to get community service requirements fulfilled by volunteering for the local elementary school’s after school program, Jeongyeon didn’t hesitate to sign up.

Her volunteer segment was to coach and oversee basketball for a group of four kids who often got pushed out of sports games with the other after school program kids because of their physical disabilities. She was buzzing with excitement. Maybe she’d be able to spark a love for basketball in one of the kids just like a high school volunteer had done for her. 

When she reached the elementary school’s gymnasium, she saw that there was a corner reserved specifically for her and her kids off to the side, near a smaller court. A group of twenty-four after school program kids were playing basketball with each other on the big court already, roughhousing and laughing.

As soon as she saw the kids she’d be teaching, sitting timidly on the bleachers near their corner of the gym, her eyes lit up.

“Why are you guys just sitting there!” She exclaimed, stretching out her arms comically. “Heyo!”

The kids shyly stood from the bleachers, introducing themselves one by one to her. One of the girls was blind in one eye, one of the boys was partially deaf, and the other boy had a pronounced limp. The girl who stood out to her the most was a mousy little girl named Seoyeon. From what Jeongyeon had heard from when she was given her volunteer segment, the girl had a chronic pain disorder that they would not specify, being that it was private information.

“I’m Jeongyeon, and I’m gonna be your coach this year.” She spun a basketball on her finger, eliciting excited ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s from the kids.

The next hour was filled with short exercises and games, with the kids learning how to dribble a ball for the first time. All four of the kids were having the time of their lives, giggling when the ball bounced far away from them and playfully sticking their tongues out at each other when someone made a mistake. It brought a warmth to Jeongyeon’s chest to see these kids find normalcy in her favorite sport. Even the shy Seoyeon was gleefully cheering and talking to the other kids.

Time passed quickly and before she knew it, it was five minutes until seven.

The kids went back to the bleachers to grab their things, with parents trickling in and out of the gymnasium to grab their children. Jeongyeon walked away from the bleachers to a utility closet to put the equipment she pulled out away, making sure to tell one of the other student volunteers to keep an eye out on her kids.

“Seoyeon-ah.” Jeongyeon’s eyes widened when she heard a familiar voice cut through the echo of the gymnasium.

Jeongyeon twisted around from the utility closet to see Nayeon leaning down, smiling gently at Seoyeon. There was an excited smile on Seoyeon’s face as she stumbled off the bleachers towards the girl.

“Unnie!” The girl exclaimed, louder than Jeongyeon’s heard from her all day.

Nayeon spread out her arms and allowed Seoyeon to jump into them before holding her tightly and straightening out. With her sister holding tightly in her arms, Nayeon bobbed up and down while stroking her sister’s hair with one of her hands in a strange little dance.

“Oh look at my little Seoyeonnie playing basketball and being so cool. Who’s the coolest girl of all time? Seoyeon is! Seoyeon is!” Nayeon cooed in an unfamiliar affectionate voice that made Jeongyeon’s brain short circuit trying to process it. “I think Seoyeonnie deserves some ice cream on her way home.”

“Yay!” Seoyeonnie cheered. “I had so much fun today! Coach taught us out to dribble!”

“Oh, that’s right. Where’s your coach -” Nayeon turned around and stilled, noticing Jeongyeon for the first time since entering the gymnasium.

The two girls stared at each other for a beat too long. Nayeon’s hand stayed frozen on Seoyeon’s head and Jeongyeon stood stock still with her hand on the utility closet door.

“Coach! This is unnie!” Seoyeon exclaimed, turning her head around in Nayeon’s arms. “Unnie, that’s Jeng… Jung… um - that’s Coach!”

“Hello, Seoyeon’s Coach.” Nayeon said, her words stilted and cold.

“Hello, Seoyeon’s unnie.” Jeongyeon responded, releasing her hold on the door and walking towards the bleachers.

Nayeon put down her sister and watched as she ran to grab her backpack before acknowledging Jeongyeon again, “How was she, then?” and in a quieter voice. “No pain?”

“She… she was fine.” Jeongyeon said carefully, still not used to the concern in Nayeon’s voice. “She had to sit down a few times because she was getting really tired, but other than that, she was great.”

“Right. Good. Okay, well.” Nayeon turned to her sister. “Let’s go, Seoyeon-ah. Say goodbye to your coach.”

“Bye!” Seoyeon said, waving wildly to Jeongyeon before running and grabbing Nayeon’s awaiting hand.

“Bye, Seoyeon.” Jeongyeon weakly called out as the two girls walked out of the gymnasium.

As soon as Nayeon was out of sight, Jeongyeon released a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. Seeing her usual antagonist be so uncharacteristically gentle with her sister was a small shock to the system. As a younger sister herself, seeing Nayeon’s fondness for Seoyeon was almost heartwarming.

Still, Jeongyeon knew better than to be fooled. She knew that just because Nayeon had a soft spot for her sister, that didn’t erase the rude, arrogant, selfish Nayeon. That awful version of Nayeon was a lot more real than any other version of Nayeon out there, and Jeongyeon knew that with Dahyun now in on the plan, her reign would come crumbling down.

It was just a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A summary of chapter 3 as 3 newspaper headlines:
> 
> 1\. Meet Kim Dahyun, founder of the bird watching club (binoculars included!)  
> 2\. Jeongyeon miraculously gets through three years of high school without understanding the classroom numbering system  
> 3\. Soft!Nayeon - fact or fever dream?
> 
> Thanks for all the comments & kudos ♥


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